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Nearly half of the states already have or are expected to enact bans on abortion at all stages of pregnancy, many without exceptions for rape or incest. Women who are unable to travel hundreds of miles to gain access to legal abortion will be required to continue with their pregnancies and give birth with profound effects on their bodies, their health, and the course of their lives.

If this court renounces the liberty interest recognized in Roe and reaffirmed in Casey, it would be an unprecedented contraction of individual rights and a stark departure from principles of stare decisis.

The court has never revoked a right that is so fundamental to so many Americans and so central to their ability to participate fully and equally in society.

— U.S. Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar, making the case to save the right to abortion during oral arguments today in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which deals with the constitionality of Mississippi’s 15-week abortion ban, noting that people have relied upon this right for about 50 years. The Supreme Court’s conservative majority seems poised to overturn the protections afforded by the landmark case Roe v. Wade.

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Staci Zaretsky is a senior editor at Above the Law, where she’s worked since 2011. She’d love to hear from you, so please feel free to email her with any tips, questions, comments, or critiques. You can follow her on Twitter or connect with her on LinkedIn.

Topics

Abortion, Courts, Quote of the Day, Supreme Court